Magazine



T. H. EICKHOFF.

MAGAZINE.

APPucATmN FILED MAY 4, 1920.

l 350, 546; Patented Aug. 24., i926.,

UNITED STATES PATENT oFEicE.

THEODORE H. EICxHOFr, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, AssIGNOR To AUTO-ORDNANCE CORPORATION, OE NEW YoRx, N. Y., A CORPORATION OE NEW YORK.

MAGAZINE.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it knownthat I, THEononE H. EICK- HoFF, a citizen of the United 'States and resident of Cleveland, in the county of uyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Magazines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to box magazines of the type adapted for use with repeating firearms and more particularly to box magazines holding the ammunition in double staggered rows. y

In magazines of this character the ammunition is usually pressed upward by a spring supported follower. The central ortion of the top of the magazine is uncovered and the upper edges of the side members are curved inwardly so that the ammunition cannot leave the magazine in an upward direction, but is adapted to be forced forward by a portion of the bolt or breech closure which in its forward motion comes -within the contour of the magazine through the top opening and contacts with the upper portion of the rear of the topmost cartridge.

Since the cartridge while in the magazine is to one side and below the axis of the bore, it is desired that it move inward vand upward as it leaves the magazine in order to properly enter the firing chamber.

In order to permit the desired upward movement of the cartridges it has been customary in magazines heretofore in use, to out away the forward portion of the overhanging upper lips of the magazine. I have found, however, in practice that this cutting away of the lip permits the cartridges to move not only upwardly but laterally, and laterally away from the axis of the bore. The lip contacts with substantially the upper and outer quadrant of the cartridge and the force thrusting the cartridge upward is Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 4, 1920. Serial No. 878.798.

tends to swing upward and outward, the fnal sharp release tending to throw the cartridge in that direction. The movement upon release 1s abrupt, the curve of the lip being uniform and permitting no change in the positionof the cartridge as it is moved forward, except that the fact that the lip 'is cut away on a line extending upward and to the rear permits the forward end of the cartridge to swingv upward and outward away from the thrust received from the adjacent cartridge as has been explained.

I have found when using magazines of the type above described that this tendency for the cartridge to turn upward and outward is a fruitful source of jams as the cartridge often does not properly enter the cartridge chamber. This is particularly true in regard to automatic or semi-automatic firearms where the loadin takes place at an exeelingly rapid rate o linear motion of the It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved box magazine adapted .to be used with firearms of existing types without modification of the firearms and which will deliver cartridges without imparting thereto any outward thrust or inclination. It is an object to provide a magazine'having lips of a contour such that the cartridges will pass forward, upward and out without substantial inclination of ltheir axes but with movement of the axes in the upward direction. It is also an object to provide lips adapted to guide the Cartridge substantially until it passes beyond the forward plane of the magazine. It is a further object to provide a magazine of the character described which is simple and positive in its action and which is re1atively inexpensive to manufacture. Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a view, partly broken away, showing the magazine as seen from the rear;

Fig. 2 is a view of Fig. 1 as seen from the ri ht side;

ig. 3 is a view of Fig. 1 as seen from the front;

Fig. 4: is a view of Fig. 2 as seen from above;

Fig. 5 shows the mandrel. for forming the magazine and the tool forming the mandrel' 6 is a view of Fig. 5 as seen from the ri ht ig. 7 is a view showing the mandrel as seen from above; and

Fig. 8 is a view showing the magazine formed about the mandrel.

Save for. the formation of the lips my magazine'is of the general form shown in the application of Oscar V. Payne, Serial No. 297,286, iledMay 15, 1919, comprising the body member 8, the rear attachment member 9, the follower 10 and the spring 11. Obviously the invention may be applied to other magazines.

In my improved lip the rear portion 12 is curved inward upon an arc of a circle having its center substantially at the center of the cartridge which it is adapted to receive. This is clearly shown in Fig. 1, the cartridges 13 being shown in dotted lines. The forward portions 14 of the lips flare outwardly on a smooth curve until they are in the plane of the sides as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As clearly appears in Figs. 1 to 3, however, these forward portions do not extend above the plane of the top of the relmainder of the lip. The forward corner 15 of the lip is rounded slightly in order to avoid a sharp point.

The particular form of this aring curve can perhaps be best understood from a consideration of the method of forming the mandrel for the magazine as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The mandrel is formed from a piece of steel stock which is preferably first given the cross section shown in Fig. 7, the forward corners being somewhat rounded. The magazines may be form/ed in Varying sizes to accommodate differing numbers of cartridges and the length of the mandrel will be dependent upon the capacity desired. To form the upper part of the magazine the type of cutter shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is used, comprising an outer cylindrical portion 17, a narrow plane portion 18 of substantially the Vwidth of the thickness of the material to be used in the magazines, and

` an outer concave conoidal portion 19.

This cutter is not, however, moved all the way acrossthe top of the mandrel, but 'is stopped as shown in Fig. 6 at substantially the point where the outer circumference of the cutter portion intersects the forward edge of the blank on a line on the level with the central horizontal cut away portion. As seen from above the finished mandrel appears as shown in Fig. 7, and the cross section taken on the plane of the lower part of the cutting surface 17 in Fig. 6 appears of the same shape as the opening in the top of the magazine shown in Fig. 4. In formingj the magazine, it will ordinarily be formed of a single lank of metal, the lips being formed-from pwardlyextendin rectangular portions, in which case, as s own 1n 1g 8, the forward corners of the lips may be trimmed to the proper shape before being bent, but the above described method has been found more satisfactory.

The mandrel formed in'the manner described provides a magazine, the rear portions of whose lips are formed concave downwardly upon a radius substantially that of the cartridge to be received and this curve graduall blendsinto a curve which flares outward y and upwardly) A horizontal section ofthe forward portion of the curve is concave outwardly and a vertical section is concave upwardly. This curve is-smooth and gradual throughout and blends into the plane sides of the magazine in such manner that the extreme forward portion of the lip is vertical and in the vertical plane of the sides of the magazine.

Thusthe corners 15 are in the vertical plane of the lower portion of the sides of the magazine and are much less susceptible of being damaged or bent in roughly handling or dropping the magazines than are the usual lips which are entirely curved.

As a cartridge is forced forward from my magazine the peculiar curvature of the lip permits it to gradually rise and gradually be released and since the lip extends laten ally beside the cartridge even beyond the point where the actual release of the cartridge occurs, there is no possibility of a llaterally outward inclination of the cartridge.

I claim:

1. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips adapted to gradually release a cartridge, the lips extending laterally beside the cartridge beyond the point of release and adapted to contact therewith to prevent lateral deviation.

2. A magazine for cartridges comprising 4 release, without Asubstantial change in the direction of its axis, the lips extending laterally beside the cartridge beyond the point of release and adaptedto contact therewith to prevent lateral deviation.

4. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips, the forward portions of which are upon a curve generated by rotating a curve concave downward, about an axis transverse of the magazine. y

5. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips, the rearward portions of which are concave downward; the forward portions of which are upon a curve generated by rotating a curve concave downward, about an axis transverse of the magazine, the upper edge of the lips being upon a plane.

G. A magazine for cartridges, the lips of which have their rear portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being a smooth curve.

7. A magazine for cartridges, the lips of which have their rear portion curved concavcly inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion .being formed upon a curve generated by rotating a curve concave downward, about an axis transverse of the magazine.

8. A magazine for cartridges, the lips of which have their rear portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion. straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being formed upon a curve generated by rotating the curve of the curved portion about an axis transverse of the magazine.

9. A magazine for cartridges, the lips of which have their rear portion curved concavely inward Yand their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being a smooth curve so formed that when a cartridge is moved forward it is permitted to rise without substantial change in the direction of its axis and is gradually released.

10. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips adapted to gradually release a cartridge, the lips extending laterally beside the cartridge beyond the point of release and adapted to contact therewith to prevent lateral deviation, the upper edge of the lips lying in a plane.

11. A magazine for cartridges, the lips of which have their rear portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being formed upon a curve generated by rotating the curve of the curved portion about an axis transf verse of the magazine, the upper edge of the lips lying in a plane.

12. A magazine for cartridges comprising a casing having lips, the magazine being adapted to receive two rows of cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip, and means adapted to force cartridges against the lips,

l the lips being so curved as to gradually release a cartridge when the cartridge is moved forward in a plane substantially parallel to that of the lips;

13. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips adapted to gradually release a cartridge, the magazine being adapted to receive two rows o-f cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip, the lip extending laterally beside the cartridge beyond the point of release and adapted to contact therewith to prevent lateral deviation.

14. A magazine for cartridges comprising lips overhanging the delivery opening and having their rearward portions curved inwardly and the forward portion curving outwardly and upwardly, the magazine being adapted to receive two rows of cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip.

15. A lipped magazine for cartridges, the magazine being adapted to receive two rows of cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip, the lips having their rear portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being formed upon a curve generatedby rotating a curve concave downward, about an axis transverse of the magazine.

16. A lipped magazine for cartridges, the magazine being adapted to receive ,two rows of cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip, the lips having their rear .portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being formed upon a curve generated by rotating the curve of the curved `portion about an axis transverse of the magazine.

17. A lipped magazine for cartridges, the magazine being adapted to receive two rows of cartridges in staggered relation whereby the upper cartridge contacts with one lip, the lips having their rear portion curved concavely inward and their extreme forward portion straight, the transition from the curved to the straight portion being a smooth curve so formed that when a cartridge is moved forward it is permitted to rise without substantial change in the direction of its axis and is gradually released.

Signed by me at Cleveland, Ohio, this 24th day of April, 1920.

THEODORE H. .EICKHOFE 

